H.S.J. Cesar’s research while affiliated with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and other places
What is this page?
This page lists works of an author who doesn't have a ResearchGate profile or hasn't added the works to their profile yet. It is automatically generated from public (personal) data to further our legitimate goal of comprehensive and accurate scientific recordkeeping. If you are this author and want this page removed, please let us know.
Coral reef ecosystems provide many functions, services and goods to coastal populations, especially in the developing world. A variety of anthropogenic practices threatens reef health and therefore jeopardises the benefits flowing from these services and goods. These threats range from local pollution, sedimentation, destructive fishing practices and coral mining to global issues like coral bleaching. Economic valuation can help to shed light to the importance of the services and goods by 'getting some of the numbers on the table'. Valuation tech-niques are discussed and a summary of economic studies on coral reefs is presented. The concepts of Total Economic Value and Cost Benefit Analysis are used to illustrate the valuation of marine protected areas (national parks, etc.) and of threats.
Coral reefs are highly productive ecosystems that provide a variety of valuable goods and services, including recreational opportunities. The open-access nature and public good characteristics of coral reefs often result in them being undervalued in decision making related to their use and conservation. In response to this, there now exists a substantial economic valuation literature on coral reefs. For the purposes of conducting a meta-analysis of this literature, we collected 166 coral reef valuation studies, 52 of which provided sufficient information for a statistical meta-analysis, yielding 100 separate value observations in total. Focusing on recreational values, we use US$ per visit as the dependent variable in our meta-analysis. The meta-regression results reveal a number of important factors in explaining variation in coral reef recreational values, notably the area of dive sites and the number of visitors. Different valuation methods are shown to produce widely different values, with the contingent valuation method producing significantly lower value estimates. Using a multi-level modelling approach we also control for authorship effects, which proves to be highly significant in explaining variation in value estimates. We assess the prospects for using this analysis for out-of-sample value transfer, and find average transfer errors of 186%. We conclude that there is a need for further high-quality valuation research on coral reefs.
Data collected through a stratified catch and effort survey were used to assess the impact of the 1998 mass coral bleaching event on socio-economic and biological indicators for the coastal reef fisheries of the Seychelles. There was a significant reduction in the abundance index and monthly yields per square kilometre for representatives of the family Siganidae following 1998. However, this was not associated with the bleaching event and conformed with the declining trend prior to the impact. Abundance indices and yields per square kilometre did not change significantly for the primary target families of the handline fisheries (Lutjanidae, Serranidae, Lethrinidae and Carangidae). Declining trends in abundance indices and yields for Octopodidae reversed after 1998, although the phenomena could not be independently linked to coral bleaching. Whilst critical resource based management issues are identified for the demersal handline fishery, the results suggest that there were no negative short-term bio-economic impacts on Seychelles coastal reef fisheries associated with mass coral mortality.
The Leuser Ecosystem in Northern Sumatra is officially protected by its status as an Indonesian national park. Nevertheless, it remains under severe threat of deforestation. Rainforest destruction has already caused a decline in ecological functions and services. Besides, it is affecting numerous economic activities in and around the Leuser National Park. The objectives of this study are twofold: firstly, to determine the total economic value (TEV) of the Leuser Ecosystem through a systems dynamic model. And secondly, to evaluate the economic consequences of deforestation versus conservation, disaggregating the economic value for the main stakeholders and regions involved. Using a dynamic simulation model, economic valuation is applied to evaluate the TEV of the Leuser National Park over the period 2000–2030. Three scenarios are considered: ‘conservation’, ‘deforestation’ and, ‘selective use’. The results are presented in terms of (1) the type of benefits, (2) the allocation of these benefits among stakeholders, and (3) the regional distribution of benefits. The economic benefits considered include: water supply, fisheries, flood and drought prevention, agriculture and plantations, hydro-electricity, tourism, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, fire prevention, non-timber forest products, and timber. The stakeholders include: local community members, the local government, the logging and plantation industry, the national government, and the international community. The regions considered cover the 11 districts involved in the management of the Leuser Ecosystem. With a 4% discount rate, the accumulated TEV for the ecosystem over the 30-year period is: US 9.5 billion under the ‘conservation scenario’ and US $9.1 billion under the ‘selective utilisation scenario’. The main contributors in the conservation and selective use scenarios are water supply, flood prevention, tourism and agriculture. Timber revenues play an important role in the deforestation scenario. Compared to deforestation, conservation of the Leuser Ecosystem benefits all categories of stakeholders, except for the elite logging and plantation industry.
Characteristics, impacts and economic costs and benefits of blast fishing have been little investigated and they were therefore studied in Indonesia, at the scale of individual fishing households and of Indonesian society as a whole. Although illegal and highly destructive to coral reefs, blast fishing provides income and fish to a vast number of coastal fishers who claim that they have no alternative to make a living. Crew members in small-, medium- and large-scale blast fishing operations earned net incomes per month of US55, 393 and 1100 respectively. These incomes were comparable to the highest incomes in the conventional coastal fisheries. At the individual household level, the differences between the three types of operations show clear incentives for scale enlargement. The cost-benefit balance at the society level was calculated with an economic model. This analysis showed a net loss after 20 years of blast fishing of US33 900 per km2 of coral reef where there is a low potential value. The main quantifiable costs are through loss of the coastal protection function, foregone benefits of tourism, and foregone benefits of non-destructive fisheries. The economic costs to society are four times higher than the total net private benefits from blast fishing in areas with high potential value of tourism and coastal protection. This analysis of characteristics, impact and economics of blast fishing should help to raise the political will to ban blast fishing from Indonesian waters. Moreover, it allows for an evaluation of possible management solutions, taking into account their costs and the socio-economic framework that caused coastal fishers to start using explosives.
The year 1998, was the warmest year since the start of temperature recordings some 150 years ago. Similarly, the 1990s have been the warmest decade recorded. In addition, 1998 saw the strongest El Nino ever recorded. As a consequence of this, very high water temperatures were observed in many parts of the oceans, particularly in the tropical Indian Ocean, often with temperatures of 3°to 5°C above normal. Many corals in this region bleached and subsequently died, probably due to the high water temperatures in combination with meteorological and climatic factors. Massive mortality occurred on the reefs of Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Seychelles with mortalities of up to 90% in many shallow areas. Reefs in other parts of the Indian Ocean, or in waters below 20 m, coral mortality was typically 50%. Hence, coral death during 1998 was unprecedented in severity. The secondary socioeconomic effects of coral bleaching for coastal communities of the Indian Ocean are likely to be long lasting and severe. In addition to potential decreases in fish stocks and negative effects on tourism, erosion may become an acute problem, particularly in the Maldives and Seychelles. If the observed global trends in temperature rises continue, there will be an increased probability of a recurrence of the phenomenon observed in 1998 on the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean, as well as in other parts of the tropical oceans in coming years. Coral reefs of the Indian Ocean may prove to be an important signal of the potential effects of global climate change, and we should heed that warning.
Indonesia's coral reefs are currently undergoing rapid destruction from human activities including: poison fishing; blast fishing; coral mining; sedimentation; pollution and overfishing. In this paper, these destructive activities are described and the private gains from these activities accruing to individuals are compared with the associated costs to society. It is shown that the social costs by far outweigh the short-term private gains. Yet, powerful forces have a clear interest in maintaining the status quo of destruction. These forces vary from high risk, high payoff poison fishing to poverty-trap activities such as coral mining. The paper concludes with a discussion on designing appropriate policy responses such as: local threat-based approach; national threat-based approach; integrated coastal zone management; and the use of marine protected areas.
... heavily damaged, in moderately good condition about 22.5%, and in excellent condition only about 6.5% (Giyanto et al., 2017). Most of the damage is due to the use of not environmentally friendly fishing equipment such as fish bombs and poisons (potassium and cyanide) (Mcmanus et al., 1997;Mous et al., 2000;Putra et al., 2020a;2021). In addition, several coastal communities also use coral for household purposes (Asian Development Bank, 2014;Putra et al., 2020a). ...
... Like most coral reefs worldwide, major bleaching events have affected Madagascar's coral reefs. Bleaching events were particularly severe in 1998 (a year of global bleaching), followed by 2002, 2012, and 2016 (58,66,67). Therefore, the status of coral reefs in Madagascar since 1998 has shown a 30-50% decline in coral cover across the country, losing 20% in the last 20 years (68). ...
... A rapid expansion in the number of coral reef valuation studies started in the 2000s, with more than 100 studies ). Cesar (2000) and Gustavson and Huber (2000) have monographs with collections of articles on coral reef valuation. Not a valuation study as such, the meta analysis of dose-response functions of coral reef threats by Wielgus et al. (2002) is also an important publication in this field of research. ...
... Its habitat includes outstanding mountains and lovely beauty beaches with lagoons, salt marshes, and sand dunes, as well as gardens of coral reefs and mangrove forests, which are beautiful sceneries for many tourists and visitors. Aside from its usefulness in ecotourism, coral reefs and mangrove forests protect coastal zones from erosion caused by tropical storms (Johannes, 1975); and, in addition, they provide habitat for phytoplankton, which are nutrients for many marine bio-lives (Cesar et al., 1997). Mangroves also keep coastal waters pure, preventing reef deterioration because they act as silt traps, trapping silt (Ali, 2003). ...
... The western half of the island of New Guinea ( Figure 1) has an area of 416,129 km 2 and became a province of Indonesia through a 1961Indonesia through a -1969 process that involved military confrontation with the Netherlands, a temporary United Nations administration, and a controversial plebiscite (Timmer 2007). It was known as West Papua in 1961-1973and as Irian Jaya in 1973-2002, and the province was managed primarily as a mining and petroleum resource region by the 1967-1998 regime led by President Suharto. ...
... The reduction in live coral coverage leads to an increase in dead coral coverage (Muhaemin et al. 2022). Coral bleaching is a natural response to pressure exerted on corals due to extreme environmental conditions and human activities that cause coral stress (Setiawan et al., 2017), loss of Symbiodinium populations (zooxanthellae algae) or coral polyp habitats (Westmacott et al. 2000;Muhaemin et al. 2022). ...
... Ekoturizm turlarında doğaya yakınlığı ile bilinen uzmanlaşmış turist rehberi bir lider olarak "yol gösterici ve aracı" olarak da görülmektedir. 70 Günümüzde turistlerin çevreye zarar vermeden doğa ile iç içe olmayı amaçlayan etkinliklere katılmalarını teşvik etmede turist rehberlerinin önemli bir rol oynadığı dikkat çekmektedir. 71 Çünkü çevrenin önemini yorumlayarak anlatan, turistleri teşvik eden, doğal ve kültürel çevrenin sürdürülebilirliğine katkıda bulunan ve turistleri kendi hayatlarını daha büyük ekolojik veya kültürel kaygılarla ilişkili olarak düşünmeye motive eden turist rehberi olarak görülmektedir. ...
... However, we found a relatively low percentage of fish that are 100% coral or macroalgae-associated within the catch of small-scale tropical fisheries. The prominence of fishes that use multiple habitats throughout their life suggests that the immediate effects of habitat disturbances on catch rates may be buffered, a supposition supported by comparing catch data before and soon after mass bleaching in the Seychelles (Grandcourt & Cesar, 2003). However, many species require specific habitat types during certain life-history stages, and long-term declines in stock and catch may occur if essential habitat required by either adult or juvenile fish is increasingly unavailable in the seascape (Graham et al., 2007). ...
... Tropical coral reefs provide a wide range of ecosystem services that benefit millions of people worldwide [1]. Some of the most well-studied provisioning services include fisheries [2], cultural services include recreation and tourism [3], and regulating services include coastal protection [4] and nutrient processing [5]. Yet, few reefs have escaped exposure from local threats in the form of overfishing, catchment runoff and direct habitat destruction, and global threats in the form of increasing regional ocean temperatures and changes to the acidity of ocean waters [6][7][8][9]. ...
... Consequently, the synergistic work between government and local farmer provide widespread benefits to the coastal communities in this region (Siar et al., 2001) Farm management practices 3..2.1 Broodstock management To date, considerable amount of research on captive breeding technologies including broodstock management of tiger grouper has been done to produce high quality larvae (Ali et al. 2006, Sim et al. 2005). In common with many producer countries, broodstock collection largely depend on the wild-caught activities (Cesar et al. 2000). Because of this dependence, the larvae production will heavily rely on the mature condition (Ali et al. 2006) and required knowledge on specific nutrition requirement of the tiger grouper broodstock (Sugama et al. 2012). ...
